#42. I Should Have Done That
The next day, Idren summoned a tailor to the castle. Since the castle already had furs and silks prepared, all they needed was a skilled artisan to make clothes.
After taking her measurements, the tailor returned to his workshop to gather his assistants. He told her to pick out the fabrics she liked in the meantime, saying he’d be back soon as the workshop wasn’t far.
However, the one most enthusiastic about making clothes wasn’t her—it was Idren. Seated on a sofa in the drawing room, Ophelia looked across at the man who was studying the fabrics with utmost seriousness.
If only he kept his mouth shut, he’d be perfect anywhere.
She mused for a moment about how much damage he could do just by speaking, then asked him:
“Did you always plan to come here?”
“What do you mean?” he replied, still not taking his eyes off the fabric.
She elaborated, “There’s more here than I expected.”
There were fabrics and gems stocked up in the castle as if they’d been prepared in advance.
Ophelia found that odd.
Idren was not the type to hoard things. He always kept himself presentable, but only just enough to appear tidy. He was far from being indulgent or extravagant.
At last, Idren picked up a bolt of red velvet. As he approached her, he responded:
“These weren’t prepared because I knew I’d come here. I had them ready even in the previous life.”
He handed her the fabric and asked, “What do you think of this color?”
Ophelia ran her fingers over the cherry-red velvet. It was soft and smooth, a sign of high-quality material. It was a bit thick to wear now, but in Edegrun, it would likely be warm.
After evaluating it, she replied, “It’s not bad.”
“Then I’ll have a set made from this as well,” Idren said, taking back the fabric.
As he walked away to set the velvet aside, Ophelia asked, “Why did you collect all these things?”
It was a casual question, not something she was desperate to know—but curious enough to toss it out lightly.
It was the kind of question that didn’t require a polished answer. Still, Idren hesitated. Ophelia glanced at his back, now frozen in place.
He finally answered in a low voice, “…Because I planned to come here with you.”
She could only see his back, but she imagined he was blushing.
So she turned her gaze away out of courtesy, so that when he turned back, he wouldn’t feel embarrassed.
“But that never happened, did it?” she said.
She didn’t have a detailed memory as vivid as Idren’s wished she did, but if something like that had occurred, she would have remembered. Events like long trips were hard to forget.
Idren agreed. “You’re right. It didn’t happen.”
From the weight in his voice, Ophelia sensed a bitterness that bordered on pain.
Though he had done nothing wrong, she felt uncomfortable. Almost without realizing, she murmured:
“If you wanted to come with me, you should’ve said so.”
They weren’t close, but not so distant they couldn’t have traveled together.
She couldn’t promise to be a good companion, but she could at least have stayed quiet for the whole trip.
Idren nodded again. “I should have.”
And in that moment, Ophelia realized he seemed even more pitiful precisely because he was being so obedient.
But she didn’t know how to respond to a man caught in such complicated emotions, so she simply sat with her back turned to him.
Not long after, the tailor returned with his team.
Idren sat a little ways off, watching as Ophelia discussed the details—like embroidery and buttons—with them.
Even with her indifferent demeanor, it seemed even she noticed the castle’s contents had been deliberately gathered.
“Why did you collect all these things?”
That question had brought Idren back to a memory—like most things related to Ophelia, it hadn’t gone the way he hoped.
After their engagement was arranged in the previous life, he had been so excited he acted like he was thirteen, not twenty-three.
Gathering luxury items in a royal vacation estate was one of those age-inappropriate acts.
Ophelia might not know, but this place was famous as a resort. Though technically part of the central region, it had a southern climate and was close to the sea.
The royal family had traditionally come here for vacation in autumn.
Back then, Idren had hoped he and Ophelia might come here once, just like those before them.
But he hadn’t wanted to give her inherited memories from the past. When she was younger, Ophelia had said she wanted new experiences.
He felt the natural scenery here wasn’t enough to fulfill her wish.
His imagination had its limits. More importantly, Idren didn’t know what Ophelia liked. When he asked her brother, Mahanas, that foolish prince simply listed luxury goods one after another.
Even when he thought she was close with her family, Idren suspected those were Mahanas’ tastes, not hers. Still, he collected the items. After all, better to have them than not.
The idea that it was too much, especially when they weren’t even married yet, didn’t bother him.
Of course, nothing had gone his way.
Even after marrying Ophelia, he hadn’t brought her to this castle. He hadn’t even been invited to the villa he’d given her as a wedding gift.
Ophelia had invited acquaintances to her villa from time to time—but never him.
He had no idea how she spent her time there. She always drew a clear line between her schedule and his.
How could he propose going on a vacation together? She clearly wouldn’t have welcomed it.
“If you wanted to come with me, you should’ve said so.”
Ophelia said it casually, but in the past, that had been the hardest thing for him to do.
Every time he tried to suggest something to her, he was haunted by the fear of rejection.
He didn’t care what others thought of him—but Ophelia was different. Even imagining her displeased with him made his chest tighten. He was also afraid she might come to hate him forever.
So he became cautious. And with that, he ruined his first marriage.
Only after several heated arguments did Idren realize how wrong he’d been.
Because he had been too careful not to offend her, their marriage ended up resembling that of sworn enemies.
What made it worse was that Ophelia, whom he gradually came to understand through many experiences, turned out to be a better person than he’d assumed.
After hearing her sincere apology, he dramatically revised his impression of her.
Even discounting his own tendency to view her favorably, there was no doubt Ophelia had room for growth. And their relationship, if he tried just a little harder, might grow closer.
If that happened—
“Let’s get along for the next three years.”
—maybe that three-year time limit could be erased.
No—he would erase it. Idren resolved to make sure Ophelia couldn’t leave him. It wouldn’t be easy, but it didn’t seem impossible. If he could just hold on tightly…
That was when someone knocked.
“Your Highness, the entourage from Reden and Sir Penrel have arrived.”
They had reportedly reached a nearby region yesterday, so their arrival now wasn’t surprising. Idren stood up and said:
“Continue your discussion. I’ll go meet the knight.”
Ophelia, who had paused their conversation, nodded with indifference.
“Alright.”
